Child&#39;s tricar



Aug. 18, 1925.

E. L. WHITEHALL CHILDS THICAR Filed Feb. 7. 1925 EARl-E L Why-rum. M F W Arrvs Patented Aug. 18, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EARLE WHITEHALL, OF KANKAKEE, ILLINOIS.

GHILDS Application filed February To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Plume L. VVHIT- a citizen of the United fitates, and a re ent of Kankakee, in the county of lZanl-Iakee and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements in a ilhild s lricar, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same.

dy present invention relates to a toy vehicle, and more particularly to a vehicle for use by children and which is propelled. by foot-power and pedals.

One of the objects of my invention to provide a toy vehicle of the tricycle type that is adapted to be propelled through the medium of the foot pedals, and which may be readily converted to a structure of the coaster type. In this connection the construction of the vehicle gives it the ap-- pearance of an automobile of the sport model or racing type and which is steered by means of a hand wheel in front of the seat. I have provided a novel arrangement of the steering mechanism that is connected with this hand wheel, and the chassis construction is such that it is durable and dependable and is capable of withstanding considerable hard usage. The manner of converting the vehicle from the cycle-car to the coaster types is novel and it is simple to manipulate so that persons unskilled in mechanical work may readily make the transposition from the one to the other without the use of special tools.

I prefer to carry out my invent-ion and attain the divers objects thereof in substantially the manner hereinafter fully described and as more particularly pointed out in the claims, reference being herein made to the accompanying drawings that form a part of this specification.

In the drawings V Figure 1 is a top plan of a toy vehicle made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary View at the rear f the seat to illustrate the manner of removably assembling the same with the chassis or platform.

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section showing the mounting of the rear wheels for the purpose of steering the vehicle.

TRICAR.

7, 1925. Serial No. 7,545.

Fi ure 5, is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating mounting of the foot-pedals.

In the drawings 1 have employed similar reference characters to designate the same parts wherever the same appear throughout the s veral views, and Figs. 1 and 2 disclose a preferred or typical embodiment of the principles involved.

he vehicle is preferably of the threewheeled or tricycle type with a single propelling wheel in front and two spaced steering wheels at the rear of the body. The body preferably comprises a platform 10 oi triangular shape arranged with the base of the triangle at the rear of the vehicle where a cross-bar is secured to its underside and extends from side to side of the platform. The ends of the cross-bar are provided with open longitudinal slots 12 extending horizontally inwardly from the ends of the bar in which the extended portions of the rear-- wheel axles 13 are positioned and secured in hinged relation to the cross-bar by means of a pivotal bolt 14. The steering wheels 15, 15 are rotatively mounted upon the axles l3, and extending laterally from said axles, preferably in a forwardly direction, are short arms 16 that have their outer ends pivotally connected by a link 17 so that the steering wheels may be turned in unison through the medium of the novel steering system I. have devised.

A suitable seat 18 is removably mounted upon the forward portion of the platform 10 by means of U-shaped supporting brackets 19 arranged in pairs below the front and rear portions of the seat, and said brackets 19 are removably secured to the top of the platform by means of bolts 2-0 that pass through the arms of the brackets and through the platform where they are held Li position by nuts 21. By removing the nuts and withdrawing the bolts the seat and brackets may be lifted off the platform and the latter will be smooth and will have no parts projecting up from it that might tear or damage the clothing of the child using the vehicle as a coaster.

At the forward narrow end of the platform 10 there is provided a pair of sidesills 22 of strap-metal arranged upon the edge and parallel with each other, and said sills are spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate the propelling wheel 28 therebetween. This wheel has its axle 24 extended through said sills and upon these extended ends the pedal hangers are removably mounted and secured by transverse pins 26, so that by withdrawing these pins the pedal hangers may be readily, removed whenever it is not'desired to use them as when the vehicle is used as a coaster.

The means for operating the rear wheels 15 to steer the vehicle comprises a post or standard 27 arising from the front end of the platform between the side-sills, and in the upper portion of the same is rotatably mounted a drum 28that has a handwheel 29 formed therewith, or made separatetherefrom and secured to it. As seen in Figure 1 this standard projects below the plane of the platform 10 and has a pair of grooved pulleys 30 secured to it and another pair of pulleys 31 is secured to the bottom ofthe platform in front of the connecting rod 17. A cable or the like 32 is wound intermediate its ends several times upon the drum 28 to maintain the cable against slippage,- and it is then passed downwardly in a vertical direction alongside the standard 27 to the pulleys 30 and thence the two lengths of the cable extend rearwardly under'the platform 10 and are engaged with the pulleys 31. The ends of the cable are then secured to the outer'ends of opposite arms 16; that is, the lengtlr of cable engaged with the left-hand pulley 31 passes over to the righthand arm, and vice-versa so that when the hand-wheel 29 isrotated olockwise'by the rider the vehicle will be steered to'the'right.

For the purpose of stabilizing the structure and to enhance the appearance of the vehicle, I have provided a hood or guard 33 over the front wheel, which is in the form of a quadrant-shaped plate disposed on edge and extending in a vertical plane forwardly from the standard 27 and has its lower outer corner bolted or otherwise secured-to the outer ends of the side-sills 22. Arching over the front wheels 23 is a semi-circular recess 34-formed upwardly from the lower edge of the plate and at the lower rear portion of said plate there is provided an extension 35 that projects rearwardly through the low- E er'portion of the standard and is supported upon the face of the adjacent portion of the platform 10 to which it is suitably secured.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided a novel plaything for children that may be dependably steered and may be propelled in the manner of a'tricycle' by the use of the-pedals, or'when' desired the pedals and seat may be readily removed and thestructure used as acoaster in which event se\ eral occupants may ride on the platform. it will be obvious however that changes and modifications of the structure shown may be made without departing from the-principles of my invention, and I therefore desire it understood that all such changes and modifications are fully included within the scope of the appended claims.

\Vhat I claim is l. A toy vehicle comprising a platform, parallel sills extending forwardly therefrom, a wheel having its axle mounted in said sills, a segmental plate disposed on edge and extending forwardly from the platform and having 'ltS forward end secured to said sills, said plate having a recess in its lower edge arching over said wheel, steering wheels having pivotal connection with the rear portion of said platform, and means for bodily moving said steering wheels upon their pivots.

2. A toy vehicle comprising a platform, pivoted steering wheels connected to the rear thereof, a standard arising from'the forward end of said platform, a quadrantshaped plate disposed upon edge with" its rear edge abut-ting and secured to said standard, parallel side sills extending for wardly from said platform, the adjacent ends of said sills and plate being secured together, a wheel having'its axle mounted in said sills, said plate having a recess in its lower' edge whereby said plate arches oversaid front wheel ina'longitudinalplane, and means mounted upon said sta'n'da'rd'and operatively connected to said steering wheels for'nioving the same'upon their pivots.

3. A toy vehicle comprising a-rigi'd rear truck, rear steering wheels plvoted' to the end portions of said-truck, a member' secured to and extendedforwardly of the truck 'and- 

